We’re just past the middle of June and our garden plots are all beginning to show signs of growth. It’s been a somewhat arduous process but we are nicely positioned at the moment. Now we wait. We weed,hoe, and lay down mulch. We water and watch for insects. Sounds simple doesn’t it?
The house in Santa Clara purchased last fall has a rather large sprawling lawn but only contained one small garden plot measuring around 120 square feet. The previous owners had planted tomatoes and watermelons that they left behind. We were able to salvage some actually. Mostly tomatoes but we did enjoy a few small watermelons. Yum!
It was decided that given the rather rugged terrain of an ideal garden area, that raised beds would be the best option. They would be located uphill from the flat soil of the existing garden plot. We looked at several different plans and options for raised beds but in the end I decided to custom build our own using rough cut hemlock lumber. I had a decent selection of hemlock logs at the Homestead and it would give me a good reason to fire up the sawmill. It had sat idle for sometime with its battery removed and the engine covered up. The gas tank was covered as well. I found it hard to believe that the sawmill had sat unused for over a year! I used it last in January of 2025. But last year was anything but a typical year.
I made a rough material list for the raised beds and we decided to get started on the project. I charged the battery for the sawmill and got ready to start it up. Fresh gas into the gas tank first. E- free recreational gas is all I will use. The old gas in the tank still had a potent smell so I didn’t remove it. With a little starting fluid sprayed into the air intake and a shot of gas into one of the two cylinders, the sawmill fired right up! Step one! We ran some logs through and it performed well. It was needing a grease job and oil change but that came later.
We focused on making 1” lumber and 2”x4”s for our simple raised bed plans. We sawed logs on two different occasions and stored the lumber in the Homestead warehouse.Soon after we prefabricated some of the lumber in the warehouse, using the chop saw, to save time and for it to better fit on the truck for transport. The next day it was hauled to the Santa Clara house and stored in the lean to there out of the weather. I had tried to bring a little extra just in case. This paid off later!
Around May 18th I began assembling the raised beds near their final resting places. We decided to cover the bottoms with fine wire mesh to deter the moles who dig up the lawns constantly. One location they frequently dig is named “Mole City”. Near the garden plot is a place called “Moleville”. It was a time consuming task cutting and stapling the mesh in place but one that will most likely pay off in the long run.
The prefabricated raised beds were quickly assembled and I got all three done in one long,hot May day while black flies attacked me in large numbers. I was not prepared for them and was bitten many times by the time I was done. The black flies had caught us off guard as we had not expected them until later in the spring. Wrong! Bug shirts with head netting would later solve that issue to a degree. I used custom made stakes to hold the beds in place. The hemlock won’t last forever but will work well for quite a few years before needing repairs.There wasn’t much cost involved at this point unless a person puts a high value on their time. Time spent cutting and gathering the logs. Getting them moved. Sawing them. Etc etc. But making custom lumber for projects is rewarding. Well portrayed perhaps in my Run Of The Mill series.
Next came procuring soil for the raised beds. We brought up several garbage cans full of barnyard dirt from the Homestead but we needed much more. I brokered a deal for a big load of dirt from my uncle’s farm that I hauled to the Homestead in their large dump trailer. I hauled a big truck load up and filled the raised beds some. We ended up needing to purchase some soil locally in the end for all our gardening projects.
At the Homestead I prepared several sections of gardening space using the tractor and the loader. I stockpiled fresh manure in one area and moved some dirt to a squash patch location that I had chosen. After that I hand leveled the garden plots and waited for the weather that would allow us to plant. We had a late frost one morning so it’s good that we waited!
Up in Santa Clara we also waited for planting. Sitting in the Adirondacks makes the possibilities for frost to occur even later into the spring. Amy had started tomatoes and other plants inside weeks earlier. We just needed the weather to advance for getting them set out.
We planted in both locations around June 1st. It became necessary to water almost immediately as it became hot and dry quite suddenly. The plants experienced a bit of trauma and got off to a slow start. The seeds finally began to germinate after we got a small amount of rain on a couple occasions. Recently we got a long soaking rain event and that had really benefited both gardening locations.
We are hoping that our hard work pays off in the months to come. Having two locations to garden has both positives and negatives. But we like the separation and diversity that the two different locations offer. Like I mentioned, now we wait. We tend and nurture. We will get out what we put in most likely. Letting the weeds takeover will be a mistake that will show. Keeping insects at bay is a possibility that is always possible. Birds and wildlife may factor in also. But that’s gardening and such things will never change. Plant plenty and you may get plenty. Time will tell. Things have a lot of growing to do that’s for sure. But we are seeing progress each day now. I will follow this post up at a future date. There’s lots more going on than gardening! But that shouldn’t surprise anyone. With the summer solstice looming, it’s a busy time of year! Maple syrup season is behind us. Haying season is upon us. And lots more projects to tackle too. But we’re planning some fun adventures to boot. Time away for goofing off and connecting to nature. We need that sort of thing to balance ourselves out. Summer is just days away now! ✍️